Maria-sama ga Miteru Volume 28 Chapter 13

"Oh, Tsutako-san isn't here?"

The next one to appear was Yamaguchi Mami-san, from the newspaper club.

"Wow, it's just like Yumi-san said, Tsutako-san really is popular today."

Hearing Yoshino-san's remark, Mami-san looked on in amazement.

"So you're saying that there were people here before me?"

"Correct. You're the third."

The third person to come to the Rose Mansion looking for Tsutako-san. In order, there was Katsura-san, Kanako-chan and now Mami-san. Shouko-chan wasn't counted in that number because she hadn't made an appearance yet, even though she was apparently loitering somewhere nearby. The reason Tsutako-san wasn't currently present was because she'd gone to the gymnasium with her second visitor, Kanako-chan.

"By the way, who told you that Tsutako-san was here?"

"It was Naitou Shouko-chan, why?"

Oh, now she'd made an appearance.

"Was she at the clubhouse?"

"Or in the courtyard?"

Yumi and Yoshino-san took turns asking the questions. Shimako-san merely listened silently in this kind of situation. It wasn't as though she was completely uninterested, instead her stance seemed to be that she was willing to leave it up to the other two since they got so excited. There had been times when they'd gone so fast that Shimako-san seemed to get flustered about whether or not to interject.

"In the hallway. Out in front of the staff room."

Mami-san answered.

"So, that means she was in the school building, then."

The three future Roses looked at each other and nodded. Naturally, Mami-san was puzzled by this behavior.

"Why, are you looking for Shouko-chan or something?"

"Not as such, no."

"Really? Because I think she'd probably still be at the nurse's station."

"The nurse's station?"

"She skinned the palm of her hand. She said she'd fallen down while she was cleaning, and she'd put a band-aid on it herself, but the band-aid was too small and blood was seeping out around the edges. It looked kind of pathetic. So I told her that we'd go see the nurse and then walked her over there. Right before I came here."

The trio looked at each other. So that would mean that Shouko-chan walked from the clubhouse to the courtyard, and then on to the corridor outside the staff room, all whilst bleeding from the palm of her hand. Given her reluctance to see the school nurse, what possible reason could she have for wandering all over the school grounds?

"So anyway, Tsutako-san isn't here … "

Mami-san said, then let out a sigh.

"It's no big deal, I guess. I'll talk to her about it tomorrow in class."

"Ah, don't be that way. Stay and have a cup of tea. Tsutako-san's only gone to the gymnasium, so I'm sure she'll be back soon."

Yumi said, standing up and taking a teacup down from the shelf beside the sink.

"Well, I suppose I could stay for one cup."

Mami-san had been heading towards the door, but now that the preparations for tea were under way she returned and sat down at the table. In the same seat that Tsutako-san had been sitting in while doing her club work.

When they were holding their Yamayurikai meetings or eating lunch in the Rose Mansion they each had their accustomed position at the table. But things became slightly more irregular when visitors were mixed in.

In this instance, Tsutako-san and Yumi had been the first to arrive, and had sat down facing each other. Then Yoshino-san had arrived, followed by Shimako-san and they'd each seated themselves around the table to maintain a sense of balance. So when Tsutako-san left, her chair was the one that you'd naturally choose to sit in.

"Oh … is that a photo?"

Mami-san picked up something from the seat beside her.

"Ah, she was sorting through her photographs, just before."

Tsutako-san had been in such a hurry to tidy up before going to the gymnasium that she probably hadn't noticed that she'd dropped one of her photos.

"Well, look at that."

Mami-san waved the photograph, with an air of authority.

"Things are definitely more interesting when you're playing a leading role than when you're looking in from the outside."

Chapter end